Catalytic method



sept. 5, 1944.

| vAN HORN ETAL CATALYTIC- METHOD Filed Dec. 14, 1940 5 Sheefs-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Sept. 5, 1944. ..vAN HORN l1=:r AL 2,357,365

' cATALYTIc METHOD l Filed Deo'. 14, 1946 5 sheets-sheet 2` GHS R57' URN /aRY was TE @mr aafla-R fcYcL/s ans FUR/vflcf INVENTORS MJL/m? ATTORNEY -LIJ 00 HND MHKE FLUE 665 Sept. 5, 1,944. L.. VAN HORN'ETAL CATALYTIGMETHOD Filed Dec'. 14, 1 940 s sheets-sheet s mmo A m .WMD DI .W2C- INQUU QUYN - 5 VANHoR/v.

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 5, 194,4 l

*UNITED STATES 'PATENT 'OFF-ICE CATALYTIC METHOD' Lee Van Horn, Westfield, and Louis J. Kelly, Tenay, N. J., assignors to The M. W. Kellogg Company, Jersey City, N. J., a corporation ol Dela- Wall'e Application December 14, 1940, Serial No. 370,108

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to a method for eiectingchemical reactions in ythe presence of a solid contact agent or catalyst. More particularly, the invention pertains to improvements in methods for eiiecting the catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons and analogous process'es in a catalytic system in which the catalytic reactors are alternately engaged in an -onstream period wherein the desired conversion isU obtained by passing thehydrocarbons in contact with the catalyst, and a regeneration period wherein combustible substance such as carbonaceous material, sulfur and the like, deposited during the conversion period are removed by combustion.

In some of its aspects the` present invention may be regarded as directed to improvements on,A

the method described in our copending application, Serial No. 326,854, led March 30, 1940.4

Said application describes 'a catalytic system suitable for thecatalytic reforming of naphtha and other catalytic operations comprising two reactors which are alternately placed on-stream and on regeneration, therebyy obtaining continuous operation. Among the features of the method described in said application are, (a) Control of the temperature of the regeneration zone within required limits` by reprocesses such as described in the copending applications Serial No. 358,750, led September 28, 1940, and vSerial No. 294,784, led September 13, 1939, now U. S. Patent 2,320,147. While the invention is especially advantageous as so applied,

it may be utiilzed to advantage in connection with a wide varietyV of catalytic hydrocarbon conversion reactions such as the catalytic cracking of high boiling hydrocarbons to lower boiling hydrocarbons within the gasoline y boiling range,

i catalytic desulfurizatin reactions generally, and

analogous catalytic conversions involving similar catalyst regeneration problems.

Referring to-the appended drawings, Fig.` l illustrates diagrammatically a suitable arrangement of napparatus for the practice of the invention including a series of catalyticreactors and auxiliary regeneration equipment; l

Fig. 2 illustrates a modied arrangement of apparatus suitable for the practice ofthe invention; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are charts which illustrate a typical sequence of steps in each of the reactors I of the series shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively,

moving the heat of regeneration by the circulation of a mixture of air, and an inert gas such.

as flue gas,

(b). The recovery of heat from the vcirculated regenerating gas, and

(c) The provision and utilization ot a. ilue gas heater and producer in. the'circulatory gas system in such a manner that heat may be recovered from the form rate. y

One of the objects and advantages vof our present invention is the elimination of any necessity for employing a ue gas producer or heater during the regeneration operation.

A further object and advantage ofvthis invention is the provision of a method whereby a relasystem at an eiici'ent and unitively uniform combustion of the combustible deposit on the catalyst is effected throughout the l complete operating cycle with accompanying advantages in the utilization of the combustion for recovering energy and cooling the -ellluent hot gases in other stages of the operating cycle and the attainment of greater eiiiciency in the recovery ofenergy contained in the combustion gases.

regeneration gas including a waste heat boiler 4 and a flue gas turbine 5I A definite program of 'operations is mainA tained for each reactor in passing through the complete operating cycle. These operations may be suitably controlled by a program con-l troller or timing mechanism which operates motor-operated valves provided on the valved inlet and outlet lines to the reactors.

standard construction. Although the program of operations for each reactor is the same as for all the others, the operation of the series is pref- Further-objects, advantages, and features ofour invention will be apparent fromothe following detailed description thereof.

The preferred mode of practicing our invention may be best exemplified and is hereafter described with reference to the treatment of a naphtha to increase its octane number or -decrease its sulfur content, or both, by catalytic conversion erably such, lfor example when six reactors are employed as shown, that at any time two reactors are reacting, three are regenerating, and one is engaged in intermediate and preparatory operations suchl as` pressuring, depressuring, purging, or reheating. While the number of reactors and sequence of operations in the individual reaction maybe varied, both of these -I factors are preferably controlled so that regen- The'control system is not illustrated since it may be of eration proceeds continuously or substantially continuously throughout the cycle, and preferably a plurality of reactors is at all times engaged inthe regeneration stage. plurality of reactors is preferably engaged in the reaction stages at all times in the operating cycle as illustrated by Fig, 3. A

The complete process flow may be mostv readily understood by first considering the flow in connection with the two primary steps of converting hydrocarbons and removing combustible material deposited during the conversion reaction. intermediate steps which are supplementary and preparatory to these two primary steps, the latter normally consuming by far the greater portion of the complete operating cycle.

During the conversion period. the hydrocarbon 4vapors undergoing treatment are supplied, to the main reactants inlet line 6 having individual valved lines 1 leading therefrom to each reactor. From opened valved lines 1, the reactants pass Likewise, a

The complete process preferably includes downwardly through the reactor in intimate contact with a catalytic mass contained therein, undergoing the desired conversion therein, and

- then exit from the reactor through the valved conversion products outlet lines 8 which open into the main products transfer line 9. vThe i products may be conveyed by transfer line 9 to any suitable products separating and recovering system' including, for example, a gas separator, fractionator and the like. Throughout the operating cycle, a .plurality of reactors is prefer-- ably maintained in the conversion or on-stream stage at all times byV maintaining at least two or more of the'inlet valved lines 1 and outlet valved lines 8 open. The use of this feature is illustrated by the timesequence chart shown in Fig. 3 for six reactors operating on a naphtha reforming and desulfurizing reaction such as described in said copending Layng et al., application Serial No. 358,750, flied September 28, 1940. In Fig. 1, the individual reactors are shown at an instant of the operating cycle corresponding to line A-A on the sequence chart in Fig. 3.

In a conversion operation of the type described in said application, reactants including naphtha. and a recycle gas containinglhydrogen are supplied through lines I0 and Il, respectively, to heating coils in furnace i 2. After being brought to a suitable conversion temperature the reactants are withdrawn. from the furnace through lines I3 and I4 and passed to the reactors through main inlet line 6 and through opened valved lines 'I of the particular reactors on the conversion stage, During the passage of these reactants through the catalytic reactors 2 a certain proportion of the charge is converted to coke or a carbonaceous deposit on the catalyst and in some instances a substantial proportion of the 'metallic catalyst compound, dependent on the type catalyst employed, is converted to'a sulfide by sulfur present in the charging stock. The eillu'ent conversion products transferred through line l maybe lseparated into a liquid product consti.- tuting a high quality motor fuel, and normally gaseous products including a. gas fraction rich in hydrogen utilized as the recycle gas supplied through line. il and as a purging medium to line I5. The catalyst employed in this type of con' denum oxide or chromium oxide supported on a suitable carrier such as Activated Alumina.

'The temperatures preferably maintained in the conversion zone are normally lower than the maximum safe temperatureusable in the combustion stage The pressure maintained during the conversion stage may be the same, or higher naphtha,are (1) Pressure -lbs./sq. in. gauge 100 (2) Average temperature F 985 (3) Volume of naphtha charged measured on a liquid basis to unit volume of catalyst-- 0.6

(4) Mols of recycled hydrogen/mol of naphtha charged 3.0

During the combustion period, a mixture of cooled recirculated flue gas and 'air is supplied to the reactors in the regeneration stage, the air entering the system through line I6 and the recirculated ilue gas through line l1. The mixture is supplied at a temperature suillcientlyhigh 'to initiate combustion of the combustible deposit but preferably at a temperature substantially 4below the maximum safe regeneration temperature. for example at a temperature of about 700 F. as compared with a typical safe regeneration ternperature of about 1100 F.. The mixture is further preferably csupplied at andv the reactors maintained underI a substantial superatmospheric pressure,`for example within the range of about 30 to 250 pounds per square inch gauge, as for example 185 pounds per square inch gauge. The

quantity of oxygen in the' mixture, is proportioned so as to keep the temperature of regeneration below the required upper linut, this quantity normally being about 1-2% by volume.

Air supplied through line I6 is compressed t0 the desired superatmospheric pressure by air compressor 3 and is then conducted by lines I8 and 20 to air manifold line 2|. The recirculated flue gas is compressed to the desired pressure by ue gas compressors 22 and 23 and passes by line Il to a ue gas heater 24 and then by line 25 into the flue gas manifold line 26. Flue gas heater and producer 24 is operated normally only during the starting up procedure, and at all other gas passes therex and 2(F) are engaged in the combustion period number of carbon atoms, 'as for example, molyb- 15 at all times during the courseof the operation by maintaining valved lines 28 and 29 leading to these particular reactors open. A feature of the specificv arrangement shown in Fig. 1 is the use of only a single flow controller on the air inlet linelindicated by the symbol F. C. on each of the three adjacent pairs of reactors. By this arcreased in temperature by absorption of the heat of regeneration therein as sensible heat in the gas mixture, conditions being preferably maintained such that the eilluent gas approximates the safe regeneration temperature, for example a temperature of about 1100 F. The combustion gases are withdrawn from the bottom of the reactor through the valved flue gas outlet lines each of which discharges into the main flue gas outlet line 3l. 'I'he pressure in line 30 is preferably regulated by conventional pressure control means (not shown) in such manner as to maintain the reactor under a substantially superatmospheric pressure duringv the combustion period, for ex- /ample, a pressure oi' the order of about 16 pounds per square inch gauge. Y

The stream of combustion products in line 3| is split, one portion constituting that recirculated to the reactor system being cooled by passage through line 32 to a waste heat boiler 4. '.I'he

' remaining part of the splitstream passes by line 34 to line 36 leading into aflue gas turbine. or work engine 5. Valved by-piissl line 35 serves as .a temperature control for maintaining a desired maximum boiler outlet temperature, preferably about 700 F. In` passing through turbine 5, a

substantial proportion of the energy content of constituting the make fluel gas of, the system.v

From waste heat boiler 4 wherein it is cooled to a temperature approximating the ignition temperature of the spent catalyst, for example about '700 F., the recirculated portion of the iiue gas stream passes through line 39 to compres-sors 22 and 23 which compress it and circulate it to the. reactors by line I1 as previously described. Steam produced in boiler 4 may suitably be used for driving a steam turbine SI connected to the flue gas circulator, being supplied thereto by line 62 after superheating if desired in heating coil 63 in furnace I2.. Because of the corrosive nature of sulfur-containing gases, when substantial de- 'sulfurization is involved,-a relatively high pressure steam is preferably produced, for example, about 400 pounds gauge, `thereby avoiding condensation in the flue gas lines.`

In addition to the primary operations of co version and regeneration the process includes steps preparatory to these two operations, the complete operating cycle, for example, may suitably include the following steps: 1. On-stream reaction or conversion period.

2. Hydrocarbon purge by recycle gas after reaction.

3. Repressuring. 4. Inert or flue gas purge, 5. Combustion .of cokeor regeneration, 6. Reheating. A 7. Depressuring.

8. Purge with recycle gas before reaction. Step 2 above, hydrocarbon purge after reaction, serves the purpose of removing reactants left in the reactor after the conversion step. A preferred purging medium for this purpose consists mosphere replaced with recycled gas.

gaseous hydrocarbons separated in the process as previously described, and introduced through line i5. The purging gas is preferably introduced at a pressure higher than that maintained during the conversion, for ,example a pressure of 200 lbs. per square inch compared-with a, conversion pressure of -150 ibs. per square inch, whereby the purged material maybe recovered by transferring it to a reactor or reactors operating. on the conl version step. The'purging medium is introduced by closing valved line 8 and then opening valve through the reactor and out through open inlet reactants valve 1 into transfer line 6 from which 40 of the reactor to be purged and valve 56 in line I5, whereupon the purging gas flowsinto and it passes into the particular reactor or reactorsl operating on conversion and from thence into the products recovery system through line thereby recovering and completing the conversion of all purged material,

' Step 3, repressuring, serves the purpose of ad-v justing the pressure of the reactor to thatde'sired for regeneration. In this step valve I is closed thus stopping the flow out of the reactor to line 6 and valved' line 42 opened, and the iiow ofvpurg with the reactor since valves 43, 46 andv 54 weref closed during the preceding step.

Step 4, inert gas purge, serves to displace fthe hydrocarbon purging medium remaining inv-the reactor. V After closing valve 4,0, valves 30 and 43 are opened, valve 42 being left opened, and hot regenerationgas from a reactor or reactors under.

going coke combustion is permitted `to now through transfer line 3j into the reactor and out through line 44 and open valve 43 into the flue gas turbine 5.

After the inert gaspurge, the reactor is in readiness for the cokel 'combustion step which about 175 lbs. per square inch. thanthe desired reaction pressure', and under an atmospherev of flue gas. In preparation.l for the conversion stage,

the catalyst bed is preferably reheat'ed to the rerquired reaction temperature, the pressure `reduced to reaction pressure. and the due gas at- In'step 6, reheating, valves 3D, 42 and'46, are

opened, whereby hot regeneration gas from a. re-

actor or reactors on coke-combustion (step 5) is passed through transfer line 3| to the reactor stream temperature. In certain instances, it has been found desirable to burn off during the reheat step residual coke not removed during the o primary combustion step. and this may be effected by simultaneously introducing. along with l the' reheat iiue gas a. suitable amount of air through secondary air line 50, through opened valve 5I into manifold ll, and `fthen into thereactor through opened valve. In this combination secondary combustion and reheat step, the

flow of regenerating sas thus eiected is in a direction opposite tothe flow during primary combustion period. A temperature aldJusting medium suola. steam, o? cooled due gas produced the system, likewise Tee lntrodueed tlieougli loyed. clhis embodiment is espeel lly :i1-;- lle to the conversion of low estone nsplithe.

to high octane natali-tiles by e dehydro- Jmetizetion reaction such as describedin coding application Sosial No. 294,734, new l5, S. ent 2,320,ll'l. The legends on eeeli of the "embers indicate a, pelod of the operating cycle esponding to that indicated by line B--B of er instemt le shown by the position of the veli/es, e. closed. Valve beiig indicated with e, C

opened valves with en 0. The flow is for indicated by the small arrows placed adju oem the lines and the numbei'ing of elements oorespondiiig in function to those elements have :il generally similar function in Fig. l with o,

stelle.;- numerel and e, subscript letei", suolo l'ie) to indicate the hydrocarbon or nophtlie leed line.

In. this modioation, two eectois are ofl= end one reactor on col-ie combustion throughout the operating cycle. Hence this modication; similarly to Fig. l, eolie combustion es place and e. supp-ly of het ue gas for power oioduetion, rebooting, ond for purging pui'poses is mede available throughout the eomplete eyele, end ue ges heater end producer 2Mo) ls mermellg] used only during the starting up period.

Since the ew in Fig. 2 is generally siilfiileivz to that of Fig. l, for en understanding thereof, lt sucient to indicate the particular features w'"iereiii it differs from Fig. l. ln the modded it will loe noted that the mixture of hydro Gerben feed and reeycle ges travels through two reoctors consecutively or iii series, the sti-eem reheated in fume/:e coil '5% between eimifersion stages, hence lines @(i) and 5(9) cone- .soud to inlet reactants manifold and linee S (o) end 8G?) to reactants outlet line the coke combustion step, mixture of se simulated flue gas and oir is supplied to the man@ iolol line 2E end the products of combustion withdrawl through manifold line Elm). The door thereafter differs from Fig. l in that the total etieem of combustion products is passed by line to e sieste heeft boiler: Alle). The stream ls' spi t `duello@ its passage through the/boiler, e

amd passed to time lue ges simulates @2l-ol 'The peut of the flue gos passing through line l l not utilized for ielieating lg' through line l@ end mixed with eliluent *geheel and inert purge ees-es in line 'lll and .the i'filzsture passed. to line legaendeiit upon the tempemtiw in lizzie lill, end es iequii'emezrts of tile the lrequired enamoran..J l Lie turbine l'. "f secondary waste heet -e ireulating .Flue

Tie process low lli :o se evident fir-om e eo;

on eectoi' D-l am although 'the opere; D-l, ae described .e operations .being perfo? r of the c-thei i'eoeto' is in series with D-S du iig lioms, with D-l. Reactor llll is lays sexies when it is on reaction, is else we. .During the reaction peiiod of s hours.J 'valve olfieaiges are made on the reactor ltseli.

llt the end of the reaction period or" lib-l, reaction valves el D-Q ore opened about one minute before those of iesultioe in momentarily parallel operation of and to produce a smooth elumgeovei. Reaction is terminated 'oy closing of the outlet (bottom) i'eection veli/ed lie life), the inlet reaction vali/ed lime im) acti. D new en outlet solved line leading to D--2. mining open dui'- tlle next step in the seque ee, surging se slduel reaction products by mee-es of lifdroce or recycle ges, initiated line time.) at the bottom of tl The letter purging step of o smell flow of ree@ control which continues for t oliepleces most of the riginal 1 of the reactor over into the Kel; of the fe which has been put on feest-loe e. feu* minute.J fore. This pui'ging step is ole tiie pui-ge inlet 'valved l. 1eeticm inlet velved line (o) Tile next step in the i flue gas to remove `.gtsee ieector loefoi'e combustion is ste is ltegun oy opening the purge i -leeft gee outlet vali/ed line llo) and the corresponding et velved Iline Sil. This porge accomplished by allowing llue gw from izienfold lime E3 to pass through the z'eeotoi". The resulting mixture of hydrocarbon gases and lue gases is passed out of the ieactor system tmougli line lll to the lue turbine 5mi., the hydrocarbon purge, purge may consume fifteen minutes, et the end of which time the inlet and outlet velved lines lle) and ere closed and the re ester is ready for eolse builog.

Coke burning commeiced by opening. the ze eliculetion flue ges-air mixture end outlet velved lines @(521) allowing e mix tute of recirculation and eli: to entes reectoi. The mixture mey suitably contain about 2 mol per cent of oxygen which is consumed by the combustion reactions the reeel/or, so that e substantially oxygen-free flue gas leaves by line 353m). The ecke-burning period is designed to cover a, period of three hours? et the end of which the catalyst is completely regenerated and needs only to be reheated to average, reaction temperature before being ready'for use.. If desired in this modification, it willbe apparent that a secondary combustion reheat step may be employed similar to that previously described in cony nection with Figure l.

Coke burning is terminated by closing valved lines 28(a) and 3(a), after which valved lines 9|, 42m) and 90, are opened to start reheatin-g..

.Y The two last-named lines are the same as were employed in the purge with flue gas'during which only the make gas passed through the reactor.

Now, however, it is normally necessary to pass .through a greatly increased quantity of flue gas in order to provide heat for4 the catalyst mass, hence part of the main recirculation flue gas stream may be divertedv through the reactor to supplement thev make gas, through 4a suitable valved by-pass line |62. After leaving boiler 82,

f the iiue gas stream splits, the portion equivalent to the make gas passing out lof the system through the turbine, while the .balance of the gas (that portion diverted from the recirculation gas) .is returnedv to the recirculation gas system through valved line 9|. The quantity of diverted Agas passing through valved line 9| -is regulated by vcontrolling the pressure dro-p in the main recirculating system so-as to divert the desired quantity through the repeat circuit.

The valve in line 16 is opened before valved Alines 9| and 90 are closed. When the catalyst bed bon or recycle gas. This purge differs from the v rst in that the gases displaced from the reactor pass out to the atmosphere through the iiue gas turbine via valved line 42m) which is left open after reheatingis finished.

The nal hydrocarbon purge is terminated by the closing of valved lines 90 and 42 (a), whereupon' the reactor is ready for immediate switching into the reaction system by opening of valved lines 1(a) and 8(a) putting it in parallel with reactor D-2 for the moment; before D-2 is removed froxnthesystem. The" reaction is thus returned to the starting point of the sequence, twelve hours after it was started. f

It will be apparent that operating in accordance with the systems and procedure described in including recycle gas well as hydrocarbon products are advantageously decreased since only part (one-halfpas shownby Figs. 3 and 4) offthe active catalyst capacity is placed in reaction at any given point in the cycle, thereby minimizing the difference in product distribution normally produ-ced in reacting over freshly regenerated catalyst compared with reacting over the partially used catalyst present in the intermediate portions of the reaction step.

A further outstanding feature of the process is that involving the use oi' a relatively cool mixture oflue gas and oxygen toeffect regeneration, and the direct utilization of hot'ilue gas from another reactor operating on the regeneration stage to reheat thecatalyst. An advantageous modification of this feature consists in eecting only partial combustion of the carbonaceous deposit during the regeneration stage and completing the combustion to the required extent during the reheating operation.

Another important aspect of the process resides in the purge of reactants left in the reactor after completion of the conversion stage directly into another chamber operating on the conversion stage, thereby assuring the recovery and complete conversion of the purged products.

While the features noted above are regarded as some of the more important aspects of the process it is to be understood that it is not our intention to disclaim any of the novel subject matter thereof.

We claim: l

1. A process for elleotingl the catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons utilizing a system including three or more chambers having a mass of catalyst therein and which are operated in parallel bylbeing alternately placed on-stream and on regeneration to l remove carbonaceous material deposited on the catalyst during the on-stream period, which comprises regenerating the catalyst by introducing a mixture of air and cooled effluent regeneration gas into the spent catalytic mass at a temperature sufnciently high to support combustion of the carbonaceous deposit but substantially lower than the maximum safe regeneration temperaturewhereby the' combustion of the deposit is initiated, continuing the passage of said .gas into the catalytic mass until the carbonaceous deposit the foregoing has a number-.of important features and advantages. While theconjoint use of these features is highly advaintageous, it will be appar,

ent that various features of the process are susconstant source of hot iiue gas and under suitable high pressure for utilizationin power' recovery, purging and reheating'.; The ysize and hence the cost of the elements utilized in the coke combustion and power recovery operations includ- Aing the air compressor, circulating blower, valves thereon is reduced to the desired extent by progressive burning of the deposit in the direction of gas flow whereby the temperature of the catalyst is brought to a temperature approximating that of the entering gases, maintaining at least one of said chambers in said regenerating operation throughout the operating cycle, and increasing the temperature of the catalyst mass upon comple tion of said regeneration operation by passing into contact therewith hot regeneration gases withdrawn from another reactor operating on said regenerating operation.

2. A processlfor effecting the catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons utilizing a system including v three or'more chambers having a mass of catalyst and piping are substantially reduced. Likewise,

the size of the peakload and power requirements for driving the air compressor and nue gas blower are substantially reduced. v

'therein and which are operated in parallel by being alternately placed on-stream and onregeneration to remove carbonaceous material deposited on the catalyst during the on-'stream period, which comprises cooling effluent hot regeneration gas withdrawn from a chamber operatingon the regeneration stage, passing a mixture of the'coolcd regeneration gas and air into a spent catalytic mass at a temperature suillcienxtly high to supportcombustion of the carbonaceous de posit but substantially lower than the 'maximum 

